Halifax Nordic Ski Club Newsletter
In this week's newsletter:

  • Lesson for Saturday, Jan 24th
  • Snow Making
  • CANSI Course
  • Last Weekend's Dollar Lake Loppett
  • Gear to Sell
  • Trail Updates
  • CCNS's new NS Trails Page
  • Races -Maritime Cup (NB)
  • NS Provincials at Halifax Nordic
  • Where to rent skis in HRM
  • This Mountain Life - film screening

January 24, 2019
Programs on for this Saturday.
All programs will go ahead this Saturday, January 26 at regular sites and times. At McDonald Sports Park, walk in to the inner parking area to meet your coach; at Brunello, gather to the right of the Clubhouse. All this rain at least has melted the treacherous ice.  Be ready to be active outside. Your coaches have fun activities planned to get you ready for when there is enough snow to ski. Coaches will email their class if they have any special instructions. 
Snow Making Update
Water went through the newly engineered snow loop at  The Links at Brunello on Tuesday for our first test and the snow flew ❄️ ❄️ ❄️. The weather was very cold and perfect for testing the new equipment.

The dedicated team from Brunello were able to make a few adjustments to equipment, replace older parts that did not cooperate, and fine tune the system. They worked through the day and into the night testing, tweaking, testing, fine tuning and adjusting. It was cold! The system was drained for the night and hoses hung up to thaw and dry. A successful first day!

Once this warm weather passes, the Brunello team will continue working with the 4 snow guns figuring out water, temperatures, pressure and wind direction to build up more snow in the new cross country ski loop. Thanks to the team working behind the scenes to bring artificial snow to our latest Halifax Nordic ski trail - the new loop at Brunello.

Bring on the cold weather!
CANSI Course
We had interest from some members express an interest in participating in a CANSI (Canadian Association of Nordic Instructors) course. If we have enough interest we will look at contacting a master instructor to facilitate the course. For those who are already a CANSI instructor you can do a refresher for free (need to do every two years).The CANSI course is designed for those interested in instructing adults however it will help with youth programming. Halifax Nordic is always looking for instructors so if interested please contact davidhubley@icloud.com
Last weekend's Dollar Lake Loppet
A big thank you to everyone who came out for the Dollar Lake Loppett on Sunday just before the storm. Everyone had fun and we raised over $300 for the snow making fund. Thank you!

If there is snow on weekends the loppet details will appear on our Facebook site and on our Website .
Gear to sell?
Ski equipment you no longer use? Consider selling your old ski gear. Please post gear in this FB group NS XC BUY/SELL/TRADE . We are getting lots of requests from people looking for second hand gear (lots of skate ski requests) as they want to start nordic skiing but don't have equipment.
Halifax Nordic Trail Updates
Click here if you are looking for updates on our Halifax Nordic trails. We also update Twitter and our members post to our Facebook page. If you are not on social media, this link will take you to our website page that list all the posts from Twitter. We also have a News page that has been updated to include Facebook replies.
CCNS Trail Page
CCNS is collecting a list of cross country ski trails in the province and where to find official trail updates. The list is organized by area of the province.

There are many beautiful areas of the province that have snow when it is rainy and warm in HRM. This weekend, I'd recommend checking out North Highlands Nordic in Cape Breton. They have a good solid base with lots of accumulated snow.

ANTIGONISH
·          The Keppoch Faceboook | Instagram | TrailForks
CAPE BRETON
·          Cape Breton Nordic Facebook
·          North Highlands Nordic Website | Facebook | Subscribe Daily E-mail, nhn@xcski.ca
·          Ski Ben Eoin Website | Facebook | Twitter
COLCHESTER COUNTY
·          Hub Cycle Truro Facebook | Twitter
·          Victoria Park Truro Facebook | Twitter
·          Wentworth Website | Facebook | Twitter
HALIFAX
·          Halifax Nordic Website | Facebook | Twitter
KEIJI
·          Kejimkujik National Park Facebook Group
NS + NB TRAILS (all areas)
·          NS XC Skiers searching for skiable snow Facebook Group
YARMOUTH
Friends of Ellenwood Park Website | Facebook
Looking for Ski Races?
Maritime Cup - postponed to January 26th-27th 

Due tho the storm moving across Atlantic Canada this weekend, the Maritime Cup has been moved to next weekend.

Come to Fredericton January 26th-27th for the fun and friendly 2019 Maritime Cup. 

Wostawea Cross Country Ski Club is hosting a weekend of races at Killarney Lake Park: Saturday is Classic-individual start; Sunday Freestyle (skate)- mass start. There are categories for all ages from Mini-Atom (5 and under) to Master (30+). Or do a 5km "participation" non-race ski.

The races will be held on the newly expanded Killarney Lake Trail network which was recently upgraded to meet international standards thanks to a $200,000 project supported by all three levels of government.
More details at: http://www.wostawea.ca/maritimecup/  When you register be sure to identify Halifax Nordic as your club. The Maritime Cup will be awarded to the club with the best results over the two days. New Brunswick has an incredible number of clubs and active skiers, and they are always very welcoming to Nova Scotian skiers.
2019 NS XC SKI PROVINCIALS

HNSC is proud to be hosting the 2019 Nova Scotia XC Ski Provincial Races on Feb 9th and 10th, 2019.

There will be race options for all ages and abilities. From Atom to Grand Master and from 1st year skiers to the Provincial High Performance team; we will have it all. One day will showcase classic skiing, the other day will be freestyle. Not sure about racing? Join us for a recreational fun ski instead that will be worked into the program. 

Wondering how we are going to do this with no snow? So are we :) But as last weekend’s well attended pop-up loppet and the newly connected snow guns prove, HNSC is making things happen.

Mark you calendar for a weekend of fun, food, prizes and maybe a cowbell or two.

As soon as details of location/distances/order of events becomes firm we will let you know. At that time a link to registration via Zone 4 will be provided. 

Right now we are currently looking for volunteers who would like to help in the planning phase or on the weekend of the event. If you can help in anyway please send us an email at volunteer@halifaxnordic.ca .
Rental skis
We have had lots of inquiries on Facebook about rental skis in HRM. Your best bet is to call the Trail Shop @ 902-423-8736 (daily rental of classic and skate skis for youth and adults) or Brunello Pro Shop @902-876-7649 (hourly rental for adult skate skis).
This Mountain Life
The film "This Mountain Life" chronicles a 6+ month mother-daughter ski trip through the Coast Mountains from Vancouver to Alaska, 2,300kms. This is a beautiful film about the outdoors, skiing and the characters they meet on their secluded journey. The film is screening at Park Lane Cinemas Mon, Feb 4 at 7pm. Book your tickets now at https://tickets.demand.film/event/6745, as it will only show if enough tickets are sold.
Thank you to our club sponsors, we are grateful for your generous support of our club and growing the cross country ski community.